Around the fireplace
by Ltkk022
Summary: Bakura contemplates what his host and fire have in common. Beware terrible summary. Complete. Rating for mentions of death & because I'm paranoid.


Told from Yami no Bakura' POV.

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Around the fireplace

With a quiet sigh, I am awoken. I look around and notice it has become much hotter than I previously remember. Standing up, I look around, same sandy soul room, the vast expanses of Egypt's sand from my past life play before me.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was too hot.

Too hot for the desert? Such a thing wouldn't make sense to someone who has never spend a day in the Sahara. There comes a point where there is only so much heat, and your body becomes accustomed to the temperature.

This heat that I felt was way out of that range…  
I decide to wander around the mind of my host, maybe figure out what the cause was behind my discomfort.

With one swift movement, I exit my soul room, and look through a swirl of shadows. I never understood how it worked, but it allowed me to see what Ryou was currently seeing. It was very useful when it came time to find my next victim.

How long had I been out? I closed my eyes and forced them back open, trying to remember what exactly I had been doing. I decided to take a look at the real world.

I peered into the purple mist, and came face to face with flickering flames. Taking a step back, and widening my view, I surveyed the whole scene.

Ryou was sitting in front of the fire. The smell of heated blood tore through my nostrils, making me recoil. I took a deep breath and focused on my host. His clothes were matted in the thick crimson liquid, hair a mess, face scratched. In his hands was one of my most prized pocket-knives. Where had he found that? The stainless steel itself was no longer shiny, but, just like my host's clothes, stained with blood.

I was confused, and looked again through Ryou's eyes. I saw my own reflection in the glass which incased the flames in the fireplace. He shook his head, and squinted into the glass. He saw me, and I saw the flames flickering in his eyes.

I looked down at my hands one last time and noticed that I, too, had bruises and bloodstains in the same spots as my host. It was a relief of sorts, I had been knocked out, Ryou hadn't injured himself. I took a corporal form, and slid down next to him. I rested my arm around his shoulder, and he turned to look at me…

In his eyes, more flames. Real flames, flames of hatred, of sickness.

Directed at me.

"You… I cannot forgive you for this."

I was confused, to say the least. "Host, what are you talking about?"

"You mercilessly slaughter someone, and leave me there to take the blame!" He stood up, and his anger flared. Oddly enough, the fire behind him roared up almost in reaction to his emotion.

I stood up to full height. "Host, I did no such…" Then it occurred to me. Maybe I really had done something. That would explain both out current physical conditions. Well, his, and my spiritual form had been tainted as well.

That meant something was wrong...

"If I was in control, how did you get…?" I trailed off, the rest of the question refused to leave my pale lips.

He seemed to understand perfectly.

"Right before he died, he hit you over the head. He passed out; you passed out five seconds later. That left a moment for me to take control. I was already on the ground before I realized…"

I still hadn't made sense of it, but the anger Ryou held was real enough. I could feel it.

"What do you want my host?"

"Just stop. Spirit, I can't keep waking up in the middle of the streets with no clue where I am. I can't!" He looked at the floor, tears threatening to fall. I leaned over to look at him, but his façade was up again. His eyes met mine, "And if you continue. So help me I'll walk over to the pharaoh and have him banish you to the shadow realm again!" he trembled slightly.

I should have been angry, but all I felt was an odd emptiness. Never had he threatened me directly with the pharaoh. Face to face, but we were still linked. I could feel that he meant it. It disturbed me.

"Fine, my host. If you wish me to stop, then I will." I feared the truth behind his threat. I never feared anything, but now, as I watched the poor angel tainted by my presence, I felt so close to simply cracking apart. If I could do anything to keep him happy I would. If just for the sake of Ryou's protection, I would.

Ryou looked up at me and smiled. "I know you will." his eyes slipped closed, and his legs began to sway. I took control of our shared body as Ryou slipped into unconsciousness. Looking up at the clock, the face read 4:36. The darkness outside slowly turned lighter; wonderful.

Well my host, time for sleep.

I turned and threw one last careless glance at the fireplace, the feeling of hatred still ghosted in the air. I quickly extinguished the flames and shuffled into the bathroom. I pulled off the stained clothes and took a pure white washrag and ran cold water over it. Without a moment's hesitation, I began to lightly brush the cuts, trying to remove the dried blood. I cussed silently under my breath when I pushed too hard and I could feel the stinging of the skin, but I was clean. For the most part my hair was clean, so I decided Ryou could muse over that whenever he woke up. I turned off the light in the bathroom, grabbed a new shirt and shorts and got dressed.

I climbed into bed and closed my eyes; silent, blissful sleep very quickly following.

* * *

Big news! I can breathe through my nose again! YAYZ! You have to understand, my sense of smell is the strongest of my senses. I absolutely depend on my nose to tell me whether or not to eat a food, or wear that pair of pants, talk to that person or go in that room. I need my nose clear like a computer needs a functioning keyboard. Okay, I'm done with rant. Continue on...

Yer, I really don't have any inspiration for HH right now, I thought I'd make it up to you with a few one-shots and a ficlet or two. I believe this is a ficlet, because the story itself is 1000 words. That's correct, yes? Regardless of my fan-fiction vocabulary, I hope you enjoyed~

Read and Review makes the authoress happy! After all, I spent a day and a half trying to post this. Maybe something revolving around Ryou will pop up soon. C;


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